Analysis of American Beauty

There are two major themes that really spoke out to me. The first theme deals with the idea of appearances. Carolyn Burnham, played by Annette Bening, was enthralled by the quote stated by her secret mister. "In order to be successful, one must portray the image of success at all times." This quote itself exemplifies the whole idea of achieving the American Dream- not necessarily to reach the ultimate goal, but to portray the image of reaching that ultimate goal. For example, I was taught that the ultimate goal would include everything from receiving a college education, getting married, and having kids. Once I receive that, will I really be a better and happier person? Or once I reach that, will I have the opportunity to say that I reached my goal, hence portraying the image of being better and happier. The idea can really apply to everything I do in life. Am I really a happy, fun-loving person? Or am I

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People may be beautiful, but not happy. Beauty is defined by outer presentation and appearance, confidence, and personality- all components of happiness). People may be happy, but not successful. And because he cannot be seen as successful, he cannot be seen as happy. She meets her boyfriend, played by Wes Bentley, who finally makes her feel beautiful. Lester realizes that he was not happy at his job, so he decides to quit and applies at the one job that makes him happy- one at a fast food restaurant. Beauty does not need to entail happiness, but society tells us it does.

The second theme that I wish to talk about it is "What does it mean to be beautiful. We don't have to portray to be whatever we think we're supposed to be. In fact, in an emotional attempt to come to terms with his homosexuality, he attempts to find comfort in Lester, who he assumes is also homosexual. In order to be beautiful, one must be happy. If he does not have a moneymaking and executive job, then he cannot be seen as successful. In fact, Carol uses her house as a scapegoat of presenting this false happiness.

Common topics in this essay:
Wes Bentley, American Dream, Spacey Lester, American Dream-, Freud Machiavelli, American Beauties, Ie Appearances, Mena Suvari, Ie Happiness, Annette Bening, we're trying, portraying image, portray image, beautiful happy, american dream, happy successful, successful beautiful, person portraying, person portraying image, ultimate goal, seen successful seen, fun-loving person, happiness society tells, supposed we're trying, successful successful beautiful,

Approximate Word count = 1448
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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